Background: The potentially harmful effects of normothermia on neurological outcome during cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) are controversial.
Methods: In this study, we compared the early and late release patterns of S-100beta, a marker of cerebral injury, after normothermic and moderately hypothermic CPB. Forty-eight patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting were randomly assigned to either the normothermia (37 degrees C) or the hypothermia (32 degrees C) group. Serum S-100beta levels were measured until 24 h after CPB. Neurological examination was performed before and after surgery.
Results: With the exception of intraoperative blood glucose levels, there were no differences between groups. This also applied to peak S-100beta values (Gr-N: 3.5 +/- 1.9 microg/l; Gr-H: 3.5 +/- 3.4 microg/l) and values after 24 h (Gr-N: 0.32 +/- 0.16 microg/l; Gr-H: 0.35 +/- 0.28 microg/l).
Conclusions: The similar pattern of S-100beta release without evident neurological complications in the normothermia group does not suggest an increase in cerebral injury during normothermic CPB.